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Tommy Schaefer Is Returned to Chicago to Face Federal Charges for the 2014 Murder of U.S. Citizen in Bali, Indonesia

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Share For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Tommy Schaefer, 32, of Chicago, was arrested in international air space on a flight back to the United States yesterday to face a three-count indictment in the Northern District of Illinois charging him with one count of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, one count of conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a U.S. national, and one count of obstruction.

Schaefer is alleged to have conspired with his girlfriend, Heather Mack, to kill Mack’s mother, Sheila Von Weise, while Mack and Von Weise were on vacation in Bali, Indonesia, in 2014. Court documents allege that Mack arranged for Schaefer to travel to Bali for the purposes of killing Von Weise. The indictment alleges that before the murder, Schaefer exchanged messages with his cousin, Ryan Bibbs, regarding different ways to kill Von Wiese.

In December 2016, Bibbs pled guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Foreign Murder of a U.S. National for providing advice to Schaefer for how to kill Von Weise. Court documents in that case reveal that Mack had also asked Bibbs if he knew anyone who would kill her mother in exchange for money. The indictment alleges that Schaefer and Mack discussed how and when to kill Ms. Von Weise and eventually followed through with the plan on Aug. 12, 2014, in her hotel room. It is alleged that immediately following the murder, Schaefer and Mack placed Von Weise’s body inside a suitcase that they loaded into the trunk of a taxi.

In 2015, Schaefer and Mack were convicted in Indonesia of criminal charges related to Ms. Von Weise’s murder. Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison. After Mack was released from the Indonesian prison and returned to the United States, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kill a U.S. national and was sentenced to 26 years in prison in June 2023. Schaefer was sentenced in Indonesia to 18 years in prison. Schaefer was returned to the United States yesterday after completing his sentence, which was reduced by the Indonesian authorities due to remissions and general good behavior.

If convicted, Schaefer faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for counts one and two, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for count three, and a maximum fine of $250,000. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Acting Deputy Chief Frank Rangoussis of the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie Ursini of the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated February 26, 2026 Components Criminal Division Criminal - Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section Criminal - Office of International Affairs Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) USAO - Illinois, Northern Press Release Number: 26-196

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